24 June 2003
Planning Begun for Iraq's Reconstruction
(U.N. session plans for major reconstruction donor conference in the fall) (950) By Judy Aita Washington File United Nations Correspondent United Nations -- The international community and a Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) delegation that includes senior Iraqi bureaucrats began moving toward a new era of assistance for Iraq June 23 with a session to prepare for a major, formal reconstruction conference to be held later in the year. "Today in a sense we turn another page in the story of Iraq," said Mark Malloch Brown, administrator of the U.N. Development Program (UNDP), opening the so-called "Iraq reconstruction meeting." "Yesterday was the story of an extraordinarily generous humanitarian response," he noted. "Today we engage in the more difficult business of reconstruction and coming together around a common commitment to helping the people of Iraq back on their feet." (On June 23 the U.N. sponsored a donor's conference launching a humanitarian appeal in an effort to raise an additional $259 million to allow the international organization to help with emergency projects through the end of the year. The U.N. made an initial appeal for $2.2 billion at the end of the war. But the planned projects do not take into account reconstruction needs.) Malloch Brown said the goal "is to plan a process of assessment, of understanding the reconstruction challenges Iraq faces in order to come together later around a formal, high-level ministerial reconstruction conference" to be held in October. The presence in the delegation of 12 Iraqi experts from several ministries shows that Iraq wants to become an active player in the international community, said Akila Al Hashimi, spokesperson for the Coalition Provisional Authority delegation. "The political and popular circles in Iraq are continuously working with the Coalition Provisional Authority to achieve as soon as possible the recovery of democratic institutions in the new Iraq," said Al Hashimi, who is the interim deputy director general of the department of international organizations in the foreign ministry. "They are working to restore civilian institutions in all economic, political, and social sectors so the requirements of reconstruction can be respected," she said. Iraq "is a country that is rich in human and material resources. It can optimize investments in these resources. It can participate in the international community. It needs the joint efforts of all parties. It needs to hold hands with others so that it can meet its reconstruction needs, strengthen its economy and its abilities in accordance with contemporary international norms," she said. The Iraq team prepared documents for the meeting outlining the county's needs in agriculture, irrigation, trade, communication, higher education, health, and youth programs. Malloch Brown said that the presence of senior Iraqi ministry officials in the CPA delegation "is a reflection for all of us for a common desire stressed by Ambassador (L. Paul) Bremer in Jordan over the weekend that as quickly as possible Iraqis return to the controlling voice in their own future and, indeed, in the priorities for reconstruction." Following the opening of the conference, the participants attended four closed sessions during which the CPA delegation provided an overview of the political, security, and socio-economic situation and plans for the budget, currency, the Iraqi Development Fund, and aid coordination. Representatives of U.N. agencies, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank focused on macroeconomic and governance challenges. The participants also dealt with the basic logistics of setting up a meeting -- looking for a government to sponsor the event, setting up a steering committee, and deciding what documentation and on-the-ground assessments need to be done over the coming months. Malloch Brown also said that with the security situation not yet under complete control and with the country facing hot summer weather, a "needs assessment with large teams of technical experts fanning out across the country is unrealistic. But lots of data is already available and can be supplemented with smaller missions." He urged the CPA to have a budget with "firm figures on Iraqi revenue projections" by the time the conference convenes later in the year. "Unlike Afghanistan and East Timor, the countries we are most recently familiar with, which had no revenues of their own at the time of the needs assessment, Iraq has a considerable amount of compensating oil revenue as well as potentially other revenues as the economy is liberalized," he said. Ramiro Lopes Da Silva, U.N. Coordinator for Iraq, cautioned that residual humanitarian elements will continue to require attention beyond the end of 2003. "Regardless of the shape of the Iraqi administration that emerges, many of the population depend on the state-provided systems that are now in place. Until alternatives are established and available to the population at large, the state will somehow have to continue to perform the function of a provider," Da Silva said. Among the difficulties in laying out a reconstruction plan for Iraq is the fact that "the country is not uniform in its development and the challenges faced and aspirations," he said. "Without an Iraqi entity being in place, we cannot even begin our task," Da Silva added. Although the CPA is taking determined steps to address the general lack of law and order, he said, "the daily life of the population is affected; commercial activity is restricted as people stay at home, children are not sent to school, and a siege mentality is in evidence. Looting and re-looting of rehabilitated infrastructures is creating a deep sense of frustration among the population and the humanitarian community." (The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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